An 18-year-old girl has been declared dead after being washed down a storm drain during Sunday’s thunderstorm in Tesano, Accra.
According to residents, the deceased attempted to retrieve her slippers that had fallen into the drain but collapsed and was washed down a storm drain.
An eyewitness, Prince Antwi, told JoyNews that if the drain had been properly installed, the deceased would still be alive.
“One of the siblings was standing close to where the incident happened. She did not call anyone’s attention to it. By the time we realised, she was caught under the flood water.
“There was nothing we could do. She was lifeless when we got there,” he recounted.
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Navi, the deceased’s mother, is still in denial about what happened to her daughter.
The deceased’s corpse was afterwards retrieved by police and put at the morgue.
After portions of Accra were flooded on Sunday, June 5, several Ghanaians questioned the efficacy of the city’s drainage system once more.
They have bemoaned the ongoing impact of the floods on their houses.
The severe rains, which lasted about four hours, affected Kaneshie, Obetsebi-Lamptey Roundabout, Awudome, Okponglo, and Shiashie.
President warns MMDAs
President Akufo-Addo has directed Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to quickly dismantle constructions that hinder the free flow of water.
This came after Accra was submerged for the second time in a week, following severe rains on Saturday, May 21 and Tuesday, May 24.
Speaking at the Tema commissioning of two IHC Beaver Dredgers and marine equipment by Dredge Masters, a subsidiary of the Jospong Group of Companies, he urged MMDAs to ensure developers follow construction permits and to discipline officials who give licenses for projects on waterways.
President Akufo-Addo stated that the Presidency has formed a monitoring team that would immediately report to the President on the progress of the measures.
“As President of the Republic, I will not allow the selfish acts of the few to jeopardise the collective futures of the rest of us. While government does its part, we cannot overlook the negative effects of dumping of refuse into open drains by some unpatriotic citizens,” he said.
According to him, “government, since 2017 has spent some 450 million cedis on the flood control project which resulted in the reduced incidence of flooding, particularly in the flood-prone areas such as Odaw draining channel.”
He stated that phase 5 of the Accra Sanitary Sewerage and Storm Drainage Alleviation Project, which aims to keep the Odaw channel clean and clear of debris, has been completed.
He noted that the construction of the 19km of drains has been completed, adding that “some 1000 km of drain has been excavated, re-channeled and maintained across the country.”
He did, however, recognize that more has to be done to permanently address the flood issue.
SOURCE: myjoyonline
